Opinionated ... i think so ...

This is in response to my brothers rather interesting post 'Virtual Stupidity' ...

Now I have been around a good few many more years than he and I do believe my response on this matter gathers some moss (at least some ;) ) ... but basically there are a few things I have learned about the internet and they can be summarized as follows:

1) You cant offend some people some of the time, but you can offend the majority pretty much all the time ...

The internet opens up the ability for people to do things (and here comes the key word) ANONYMOUSLY ... this means that in every situation there is always someone with an asshole opinion who will wax lyrical about it on some or the other message board/poll/blog ... hell even I am directly involved in this simply by posting my opinion here on this blog ... the reality is that people have opinions and this wonderful platform which gave us granny pr0n, funky new version based lingo (Web 2.0) and chicks selling their virginity to raise money for breast implants ... also pretty much gives to any moron with a dial up, the ability to bitch and moan about things they dont like about themselves, their life, their country, other peoples countries/cultures, books, games, movies, etc ...

Quite simply its a war out there ... the weapons are words and every person comes with their own personal bunker (otherwise known as an avatar, nick or screen name) to hide behind ... anyone can be an assassin (who registers, posts an anal one liner then never reappears) ... or a terrorist (who spreads his explosives of propaganda regarding the failings of his mother country) ... the medic (who comes to the rescue of a poster burned by the flames of others) ... or even just a loyal fighter at the forefront of the battlefield defending his country, king and glory (and just responding to everything they can to simply be controversial - thus keep the war effort alive) ...

2) People like people who like and agree with what they like and agree with ... the choice however is up to you to associate with these people ...

Online you can go to a site .... read it ... and then leave it ... never to go back again ... taking the time and effort to REGISTER and then submit several responses to someone who quite clearly is not going to view things differently no matter how much you try ... is like trying to explain the colour blue to a blind man ... its not that they dont want to hear what you have to say ... but rather that they cannot see what it is you are trying to define ...

South Africa is filled with people with an attitude like this individual ... however you dont remember a time when you had but 4 black students in your school, who were all paraded in front of the assembly and introduced as the schools effort towards cultural integration ... you dont remember a time when beaches were for whites only or the job market wasnt populated with advertisements for AA or BEE positions ... to put it simply ... you dont know what it was like to be a white South African in the apartheid era with all its supposed benefits ... or to be a black South African in the same circumstance carrying a book to defend your identity ...

Your view (whilst certainly more positive) is biased towards an integrated cultural nation ... a multicoloured country with many diverse backgrounds and languages ... this is still in its infancy ...

3) The internet isnt real ...

Think about it ... when joesamamasboy posts a comment on your site ... just who is this person ... does their opinion really matter ... in a real life sense do you truly think they would be someone you would make friends with ... or even consider being in the same room with ... why is it then that what they have to say matters so much to you ... whether they have something positive to say or not it truly doesnt matter cause these people are but names on a screen and not truly real in the grand scheme of things ... they are but players in a virtual life online which exists between the hours of 9 and 5 when they typically have access from work ... facebook is a farce which encourages integration by creating individual groups you can join (very often by permission only) and measuring your performance by the number of friends you have 'connected' ... is it just me or does this not sound like an advanced version of a popularity contest ?

15 minutes of fame should more correctly be defined as 15 million hits of fame in this day and age ...

4) Not everyone is going to agree with you ... even on your own blog ...

Deal with it ... thats why you allow people to post comments ... so that they too can throw in their own little bit of bullshit into the mix ... its not what is said in life that matters but rather how you react and respond to it ... learn to let it go cause quite honestly ... these people wherever they are and whomever they are can be avoided ... they are but a mouse click away but also not in your direct vicinity (ie: avoidable) ... technology has given new meaning to 'giving someone the silent treatment' as now with one simply click you can block them from ever speaking to you again ...

The internet can bring people together ... but at the same time it can allow you to get as far away from someone as you possibly want ... go to the next blog on the list regardless of what their ranking is ... remember ranking is based on hits ... not content ... so if I spew enough bullshit that 1 million people come to read it doesnt make my bullshit any better than the next guy's, who only gets 300 hits a day ... its all just a product of marketing (and yea making your blog look like a school sachel bag stacked full of pins and badges does tend to have the effect of increasing your hit count exponentially) ...

Game of the day is: Just how many hit counters can be registered to before my site takes so long to load while all the animated gifs chew up usable bandwidth ...

5) Learn to live with the things you have said ...

People change ... they grow older they change their views ... they meet new people and they experience life in different ways ... they may experience an event which may change their life in huge ways ...

Say for example this same individual is hijacked (such a common occurance in SA) ... and gets dumped in some township somewhere ... he needs help to get home safely and goes to the nearest house ... at this house is a one of the individuals he has expressed such hate towards ... yet this person helps him out and possibly assists in saving his life ... this alone could change his opinion and even if he did regret his comments of the past it is highly likely that these comments become enbedded in time (Google Cache or Wayback Machine anyone?) ... forever there to remind and taunt him of his immature ways ... not every site allows you to take back what you had to say ... even lesser so those sites of which you have no control ...

Anyhow ... whilst I think the sites mentioned and the things said are certainly not acceptable in this day and age ... I still hark back to my suggestion ... if you want to make a difference try to change those things of which you have some level of influence/control ... your friends, family, colleagues etc ... let go of everything else because in life you only have so many seconds and do you really wanna waste them on people or ideals which may never change and of which you were never the cause or the solution ...

Inspire change rather than fight for it ... fighting only brings you down to the same level ...

Just my opinion ... read it ... dont read it ... come again ... delete me from your favourites ... your choice ...

Choice: Probably the greatest thing the internet has brought us ...